WVTK Local & State News – November 7, 2017

Voters in Middlebury today are going to the polls to decide if the town should taxes Vermont Gas for three easements in town. The town usually grants easements tax free to utilities but a petition with enough signatures triggered this special vote. Those signing the petition feel the town should tax Vermont Gas on the three Easements.

Tonight is the first of two planned water outages this week in Brandon. Officials say the water shutdowns are part of the Route 7 Segment 6 road improvement project. The first shutoff will take place tomorrow evening, from about 5 PM to 10 PM, on Union Street from RiteAid to Church Street. The second shut off will tentatively take place tomorrow night from 6 PM to 11 PM on Park and Center Streets. The shutdown may produce temporary discoloration. Once water is restored, you should let it run for 10 to 15 minutes before using it. The best place to flush your water is through an outside spigot or from your tub faucet.

Assessment teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be in Vermont this week to look at damage from last week’s wind storm. The FEMA assessment is set to begin looking at damages tomorrow. Vermont officials say they have identified more than $4.5 million in public infrastructure damage. The state’s request asks for assessments in Addison, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Washington and Windham counties.

Attorney General TJ Donovan announced today that a Vermont judge has given final approval to the State of Vermont’s $4.2 million settlement with Volkswagen Auto Group. The settlement, originally announced in late Spring, needed to be approved by a Vermont court after the case was sent back to Vermont from a multi-district litigation in California. The settlement’s approval resolves the environmental portions of a case filed by Vermont relating to Volkswagen’s sale and lease of diesel automobiles that were fitted with illegal “defeat devices” used to conceal the release of harmful pollutants in excess of Vermont’s vehicle emission standards. V

Vermont is now the first state in the United States to recognize “ultimate”, the game that started as Ultimate Frisbee, as a high school varsity sport. The Vermont Pincipal’s Association approved ultimate last week as a varsity sport starting in the spring of 2019. Ultimate is played on a field slightly smaller than a football field by teams of seven. Players pass a disc down the field until a teammate catches it in the end zone. If the disc is dropped, it is turned over to the other team. The VPA says there will be about 20 teams for boys and girls across the state.